Accidental Encounter

Sandra grinned again.

"It's easier getting in to see people in a hospital or doctor's office if you're friends with the person on the desk in front. I always give them free samples of stuff when I call, nothing illegal, just aspirins and band-aids, stuff like that. I do the same for the purchasing people too. I can arrange for discounts as well, like if you need a wheelchair for your grandmother. The markup on things like that is really high if you buy them at the drugstore."

Sandra shrugged.

"They really aren't supposed to tell me anything about patients, but since we're pretty good friends, Joanie did this time."

"OK, but why did you come to see me?"

Sandra's face was serious.

"You wouldn't let me thank you for taking care of me. I just thought if you don't have anybody, you might want somebody to do the same for you. I hope I haven't done something wrong. Did I?"

I thought about that for a second. What Sandra said was true. I didn't have anybody. My health insurance would probably pay for a part-time nurse, but I didn't really like the idea of a stranger in my house. I didn't know Sandra all that well, but at least she wasn't a complete stranger.

"No, I'm happy to see you again."

She smiled again.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Now, about you being bored. Anything I can get you -- magazines, books, anything like that?"

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I was in the hospital for a week before they'd let me come home. Every day was torture by the physical therapist. He gave me some exercises to do to keep at least some of the strength in my leg. It hurt like hell at first, but after three days, it wasn't quite as bad.

On Thursday, the therapist brought a walker to my appointment and taught me how to use it. I was surprised at how much of my weight I could put on my broken leg. It didn't seem to hurt much any more and it felt good to be in at least partial control again. My chest wasn't hurting quite as bad either.

The thing they called an "incentive spirometer" was fun and painful at the same time. I was supposed to inhale through a tube and get a little ball up to a line of a scale when I did. According to the doctor, that would keep me breathing deeply enough I wouldn't develop a lung problem. I liked the challenge of getting the ball where it was supposed to be. That hurt some, but it seemed to get better over time.

Sandra came to see me every evening after dinner, and always brought a new fishing magazine or one of the mystery books I like. She always smiled, and after that first night, kissed me on the cheek before she left. On Thursday, the doctor told me he was releasing me to go home. When I told Sandra, she said she'd be at the hospital to take me.

Friday morning after breakfast, the old man in the bed next to me asked if I was going home. I said I was. He chuckled.

"You taking that pretty little lady with you?"

"No, I hadn't planned on it. She's going to drive me home, but that's all."

He chuckled again.

"I think she's hoping it'll be more than just driving you home. If I was you, I wouldn't let her get away."

"Nah, she's just a friend."

"You may think that, but I've seen how she looks at you. You look at her the same way, or didn't you realize that."

I hadn't realized that, but when I thought about it, Sandra had become pretty special. I'd had visits from some of the officers I worked with, but they didn't make me feel anything except pleased that they'd come and a little embarrassed that they saw me in a hospital gown. Sandra made me feel...I couldn't really put it into words then, but the feeling was different.

"I don't know. I do like her."

"Well, you think about that and do something before she gives up on you. That's what I'd do."

He went back to doing his crossword puzzle then. I figured he was just seeing things in Sandra that weren't there. Yes, she'd kissed me on the cheek every night, but she just seemed like a woman who did that just because she liked to, not because she felt anything for me.

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It was tough getting into Sandra's car from the wheelchair the nurse used to get me from my room down to the street. She'd bought a compact and that meant I had to sit down and then twist myself into the passenger seat. By the time I was in and had the seat belt fastened, I was sweating from the exertion and the pain in my chest.

It was the same getting out of the car. Sandra helped me stand up and then got my walker out of her trunk. Getting to the steps of my house was slow going. Getting up those steps was something I wouldn't have been able to do without Sandra's help.

She had me lean on the step railing while she unlocked my door and put my walker inside. Then she came back and put my right arm over her shoulder. She held most of my weight while I put my left leg on the first step, and then helped me use that leg to push myself up. It was the same for all three steps and the threshold. Once inside, I grabbed the handles of the walker and Sandra let me go.

I hadn't just been letting her help me up those steps. I'd leaned on her to keep some weight off my right leg, and when I did that, the side of my chest pressed into Sandra's left breast. I also felt her hip pressing against mine. It had been a long time since I'd been that close to a woman. The pain in my chest had kept me from getting aroused, but it didn't take the thought out of my mind.

Once I was standing with my walker, Sandra chuckled.

"It's kind of like when you used to bring me home, isn't it?"

"Yes, and I do appreciate it."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Well, what I used to do before, I guess."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. Can you sit down and then get back up by yourself?"

"I don't know. I never tried in the hospital. They always helped me."

She smiled impishly.

"Try it now."

I maneuvered myself over to the recliner in front of the TV, turned around, and sort of fell into the seat. Sandra giggled.

"Well, that was really graceful. Now let me see you get back up."

With both my arms pushing on the arms of the recliner, I got almost to a standing position. I reached for the walker and promptly fell back into the recliner. Sandra giggled again.

"That's about what I did the first few times. You're going to need some help for a while Larry, just like I did. My sister stayed with me until I figured it out. Do you have anybody to stay with you?"

"No, not really."

Sandra's face looked serious.

"Would it bother you if I helped you?"

To tell the truth, I wasn't sure. It was obvious I needed help to get out of a chair and would probably need help for other things as well. I just didn't think I could ask Sandra to be the one to do it.

"Sandra, I can't ask you to do something like that. You have your job and other things you like to do."

"So did you, but you still helped me. I'll just take a week off work like I did today. That ought to be enough time to get you sitting down and standing up on your own. You can't stand up to cook yet, so you'll need someone to do that for you too."

She left me sitting in my recliner with the TV remote, a glass of water, and my spirometer on the table beside it while she went to get something for my dinner. While she was gone, I tried getting up by myself a few times, and almost made it once. I figured it would only take me a day or so before I could do it. Sandra could go back to work then.

She'd already said she'd take me to my appointments with the doctor and physical therapist, so she wouldn't really be leaving me. She'd just not be staying at my house all day. At the time, I thought that would be best for us both. She could get on with her life for the most part and I could recuperate like I always did with the flu or a cold -- alone.

Sandra came back an hour later with pizza and two pre-packaged salads.

"I hope you like pizza with everything. Do you have anything to drink?"

I ate sitting in my recliner. Sandra ate on the couch and handed me a second slice of pizza when I asked. When we finished, Sandra put the leftover pizza in the refrigerator and then came back. We finished watching a movie about ten, and during the credits, Sandra stood up.

"Larry, I need to use your bathroom. Where is it?"

"It's just down the hall on the left."

She was gone for a few minutes. I was thinking how nice it was to have her sitting there when she came back.

"Larry, while I was in there, I realized if you can't get out of your chair by yourself, you won't be able to use your bathroom either. There's nothing in there to pull yourself up on."

I hadn't even thought about that. In the hospital, a male nurse helped me to the john and then back into bed until I got my walker. After that, I could do it by myself, but the seat on the hospital john was a lot higher than normal.

"Uh...well...I'll just have to figure that out when the time comes."

"Oh no. I'm not going to come back tomorrow morning and find you lying on the floor. I think I'd better stay the night, just in case you need help."

"Sandra, I'll be OK, really, and I don't have a place for you to sleep. I have a couple spare rooms, but I never got around to putting beds in them."

"Where are you going to sleep?"

"The doctor said I should sleep on my back for a while. He said a recliner would make sure I stay on my back, so I thought I'd just sleep here."

"Then I'll just sleep here on the couch so I'll be close if you need anything during the night. I put a few things in my car for if I needed to stay. I'll go get them and then we'll get you ready for bed."

If there's one thing I hate more than being sick, it's the feeling of being helpless and Sandra wasn't making that feeling go away. I needed to be figuring out how to do things on my own again, but if she was there helping me, I couldn't. That was starting to irritate me a little. I decided to spend the day tomorrow practicing standing up and sitting down so I could tell Sandra to leave.

Sandra came back inside carrying a blanket, a pillow, and a small bag. She tossed the blanket and pillow on the couch, and then said she'd be right back.

She came out of my bathroom about ten minutes later. Even though my chest and my leg were hurting a little, the pain didn't distract me from how Sandra looked.

She wore pajamas - long pants and a short sleeved top made of some type of slippery fabric that were loose fitting, but as she moved they seemed to cling to her body. I could tell she wasn't wearing any type of bra because her breasts moved gently from side to side as she walked. Her hips were another story altogether. The pajama pants were anything but erotic. What she did to them was.

"Your turn", was what she said when she walked up to my chair.

I usually sleep naked, but I wasn't about to do that with Sandra there.

"I think I'll just sleep like this."

She chuckled.

"Afraid of what I might see? I was married once, remember?"

"Yes, I remember, but I don't have any pajamas."

"Oh...OK. I'm not sleepy yet. Let's watch another movie."

Halfway through that movie, I needed to take a whiz, and pulled my walker up in front of me. I tried to pull myself upright like I'd done on the john in the hospital, but I was sitting so low in the recliner that when I pulled, the walker just rocked back on the feet in back.

Sandra watched me through four attempts and then giggled.

"Larry, what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to stand up, but this damned walker keeps tipping on me."

"You need to use the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

She stood up and held out her hands.

"Pull on me, Larry, and I'll help you."

By leaning back, Sandra could almost balance my weight, and after two tries, I got myself upright and holding onto the walker. Getting to the bathroom was slow going, but I made it. I was in front of the john before I realized my bathroom was different than the hospital one in more ways than just the height of the seat. The john in the hospital had lots of room all around it so people in walkers or wheelchairs had some room to maneuver.

I could use the walker to get up to the john, but then the walker was in front of me. Trying to turn the walker was useless, because between the vanity and the bathtub, there wasn't enough room. I tried pushing the walker so both legs straddled the john. That worked except for the fact the john was pretty close to the bathroom closet wall. The walker was offset enough I was going to have to stand at an angle in order to hit the bowl.

Getting my cock out through both the fly in my underwear and my pants was impossible with one hand, and I wasn't steady enough yet to balance on one leg. I also had another problem -- Sandra had put the lid and seat down.

I was trying to figure out how to do both when I heard Sandra's voice.

"Larry, do you need help?"

I suppose it's a mental thing that when you have to pee and you get to a bathroom, the urge gets stronger. By the time I'd gotten in there and managed to get myself in at least a possible position, my bladder was screaming at me. Reluctantly, I gave in.

"Yes, I think I do."

She walked into the bathroom grinning.

"See, I told you. At least you don't have to worry about what you're going to do with a cast like I had to. What do you need help with?"

"Well, the seat and the lid are down for one thing."

Sandra lifted the lid and seat and they hit the walker on the way up.

"Uh...Larry, I think you need to back up a little."

I shuffled back far enough Sandra got the seat up, and then shuffled forward and turned so I was back in position. I still had the problem of getting my cock out and I didn't know how to ask Sandra to do that. As it was, I didn't have to. She understood.

"I think I know what else you need help with. I couldn't get my panties down either at first."

"Well, I usually just...well, I can't do it with one hand."

Sandra laughed.

"I'm not going to fish it out and hold it for you, but there is another way. Just hold still."

Sandra put her arms around me then, and I felt her unbuckling my belt. I also felt her soft breasts pressing into my back a couple of times. She slipped the belt from the buckle, then unsnapped and unzipped my pants.

"Spread your legs a little Larry", she said.

After I did, Sandra pulled my pants down to my ankles. I felt her hook her thumbs in the waistband of my underwear, pull out and then pull down. A second later, I was standing there with my ass hanging out in back and my cock hanging out in front.

"There you go", Sandra said. "I'll just step outside unless you need more help."

"No, I'm fine now."

"OK, just let me know when you want your pants back on."

She left and closed the bathroom door. As I pointed my cock at the bowl and let fly, I remembered something I once read. It was a statement to the effect that emptying his bladder was the second best feeling a man can have. I felt the same way at that moment.

I finished and called to Sandra. She opened the door and stepped in.

"All done?"

"Yes, for now."

Sandra pulled my underwear back up. My pants came next and I felt her breasts on my back again as she sipped them up and buckled my belt. She stepped away then and opened the door all the way.

"OK, you're all back together now."

I thanked her and hobbled back to my chair, then turned the walker and myself around and fell back into the seat.

I fell asleep sometime during the movie and woke up to the smell of coffee. Sandra walked into the living room as I was stretching as much as my broken ribs would let me.

"You had some eggs and a package of bacon. How do you like your eggs?"

After we ate, Sandra said she had to leave for a while to run a couple of errands. On her way out the door she reminded me to use my spirometer while she was gone.

My stomach was telling me it was getting to be time for lunch when Sandra came back. She brought a few sacks of groceries, sat them on the floor, and then went back out to her car. The box she dragged into the living room looked heavy.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, but I had to get something you're going to need. I know, because I needed one too. It took longer than I expected to take mine apart and put it back in the box."

She opened the box and started pulling out chrome plated tubes.

"This is a handrail for your potty. At some point, you're gonna have to sit down, and I don't think you want me helping you with that. This will help you sit down and then stand back up. Now, as soon as I put it together, I'll make us lunch. I bought some cold cuts and chips, and some lettuce and dressing for salads."

Sandra installed the handrail and showed me how to use it. I had to back into my bathroom to do so and it required all my upper body strength to ease my ass down on the seat and then get back up, but at least I wouldn't have to ask Sandra to help me.

Lunch tasted good. The conversation was better, though I was still figuring out if I liked having Sandra there or not. She was a take-charge kind of woman and I wasn't sure I liked having her tell me what to do all the time. After we finished lunch she insisted I should take a nap, and when I woke up, asked if I'd used my spirometer while she was gone. She was as bad as the nurses at the hospital. She was just prettier and she always smiled.

Dinner was almost like eating in a restaurant. Sandra broiled some chicken breasts and served them with mashed potatoes and green beans. I was stuffed when I made my way back to my recliner.

After we'd watched another movie, Sandra brought out a sack from the kitchen.

"You can't keep sleeping in your clothes, so I bought you these."

She handed me a package. It was a pair of blue-plaid pajamas. I looked at her and smiled.

"How am I supposed to get these on?"

She smiled back at me.

"Well, the usual method is to take off all your clothes and then put the pajamas on."

"I can't do that with you watching."

She shrugged.

"OK, go in your bedroom and do it. I had to lie down on my bed to get my clothes off and my jammies on when I had my cast. Try that. When you're ready to get back up, call me and I'll come help you."

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I did manage it that night and every night afterward, though Sandra still had to help me get back on my feet. She still had to help me up from the recliner too, but it was getting easier. Either I was healing or the pain meds were working better, but pulling myself up didn't seem to hurt quite as bad. My leg didn't hurt much either unless I tried putting all my weight on it.

Sandra stayed the week and slept on my couch. She also made breakfast, lunch and dinner for us both. When I was alone, dinner was usually something in a can or frozen. I was a little worried that with all the food I was eating and how little I was exercising, I'd start gaining weight.

On Friday night, I figured out I could roll over and use the footboard on the bed to push myself almost upright, upright enough I could grab the handles of the walker and then stand up the rest of the way. Sandra grinned when I shuffled back into the living room.

"You got back up by yourself. That's great. I guess you won't need me as much anymore now."

"Well, you said you'd take a week off from work, and today's the last day of that week. I need to be getting more self-sufficient anyway."

"I know the feeling. I felt the same way after my accident. I think I'll stay Saturday and Sunday night though. You still need help doing some things."

Sandra did stay Saturday and Sunday night, and waved goodbye as she walked out my front door on Monday morning. She said she'd be back to check on me after work and that she'd bring something for dinner. I gave her my spare key so she could let herself in. If she hadn't had the key, she'd have to stand there on my front steps for the five minutes it took me to get up and get to the door.